11 Things Others Don’t Realize You Are Doing Because of Your High Functioning Anxiety

Anxiety is far more serious than anyone who hasn’t genuinely experienced it can realize, and part of the problem is that there are so many mysteries and misconceptions surrounding anxiety. Although many people believe that people suffering from anxiety are lazy and irresponsible, oftentimes, nothing could be further from the truth. Please read the list below to gain a better understanding of anxiety, or to better comprehend the full effects of anxiety that you’ve experienced in the past.

#1: Passing on chances to be social even though you desire to say “yes.”

Again, it’s difficult for those who have never experienced anxiety to understand, but oftentimes people who are suffering from anxiety cannot bring themselves to be social—or even to go out into society—even though they’d like to go out and have a good time very much. This is partly because the individual feels as though they’ll make the experiences less fun for everyone else there.

#2: Obsessing over minor, insignificant details.

Human beings who feel anxiety often scrutinize every glance, gesture, and word around them, often because they are worried that they have done something negative, or that someone may be saying something negative about them.

#3: Extreme sleep problems.

People experiencing anxiety sometimes can’t sleep at all at night, partly because they are constantly thinking and brooding about so many different things all morning, afternoon, and evening.

#4: Envisioning worst case scenarios.

Regardless of how positive a situation or a set of circumstances may be, humans suffering from anxiety often can’t help but to imagine all the ways that it could rapidly turn negative. In fact, sometimes the focus becomes so vivid and constant that physical illness ensues.

#5: Every conversation is analyzed afterward.

Those who feel anxiety will frequently review all of their conversations in their head to find out if they said anything wrong, or if they could have said anything better. This can take up a lot of time and energy, and countless mistakes are bound to be found every day.

#6: Other people’s concerns are assumed to be professional diagnoses.

Even if someone just tells someone experiencing anxiety that they don’t look well, it could result in serious concerns and panicking. This is partly because the anxiety is now fully visible to the world.

#7: Assuming self-guiltiness.

Whenever someone doesn’t do what they said they would or whenever something they’re involved in doesn’t work out well, a person suffering from anxiety will usually assume that they are at fault even if they had nothing to do with the failure at all.

#8: The future is scary.

Living in the present is so difficult—almost impossible—that human beings who feel strong anxiety don’t even want to imagine feeling this way in the future (and all the time between the present and the future).

#9: Always comparing and evaluating.

For people who feel anxiety, it can seem like all of their peers are more successful than them in life and as human beings in general. It’s extremely difficult not to give up when this line of thinking persists.

#10: Mistakes are self-magnified.

No human being is perfect, but many individuals with anxiety cannot accept this—and they scream at themselves whenever they don’t do something precisely as they wanted to.

#11: Mental exhaustion.

Sometimes people suffering from anxiety are so mentally overwhelmed that they need to sleep immediately—or to continue to sleep for hours—even though their physical bodies are 100% rested and fit.